"Mary took a pound of costly spikenard ointment, anointed the feet of Jesus, and dried His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance." John 12:3 Spikenard was an expensive aromatic ointment, usually preserved in alabaster boxes, and is the same ointment Mary poured over Jesus' feet. The plant spikenard (aka nard) produced a perfume which was much desired during the days when Jesus walked among us. There were also medicinal uses for it, but available only to the wealthy. American spikenard can be found from Canada down through the east coast almost as far south as Florida. Rather than being a small plant, our native spikenard is a 10 foot bush with big leaves, pink/white flowers, and alluring purple berries. How did Mary come to have such an extravagant ointment? Easy. Let's look at the "family of choice". It's not a stretch to assume that Jesus and Lazarus were best friends, and that Martha and Mary were perhaps in a closer relationship with each other than that. There isn't sufficient enough information to know for certain if they were biological sisters four years apart in age, or sisters in the spousal-equivalent sense. As for Lazarus, if Martha and Mary were indeed in an intimate relationship, there's a possibility that Lazarus may also have been a brother in the gay sense. Obviously they wouldn't have lived openly in those times – closets didn't even exist, much less have people coming out of them. What about Jesus? He was totally comfortable with gay people as expressed in His nonchalant statement in Matthew 19:12 "for some eunuchs (aka gays/lesbians) were born that way." He did go on to indicate, by the way, that there would be those who wouldn't be able to accept it. No kidding! At any rate, Jesus' three good friends lived in a countryside home in Bethany located conveniently two miles from Jerusalem. On occasion when Jesus had time to break away, He would head out to his adopted home-away-from-home in Bethany. Jesus wasn't hurting for money and the trio at Bethany was comfortable financially also. They were a beautiful functional assembled family. Whoever came up with the illusion that the Bible's typical family was husband, wife, and 2.5 children isn't reading the same Bible I am. There is no mention of how the Bethany three came into money other than reference to Lazarus being a trader in the family business. We know of course that Jesus had sufficient financial contributions from loyal friends such as Joanna. For Mary to have possessed expensive ointment is not beyond reason. She was saving it for a rainy day. The occasion arose, and the precious spikenard she poured on Jesus' feet was an act of humble worship. What an honor to be able to do that. May we all look forward to the opportunity to kneel at Jesus feet and present Him with our most prized possessions, and like Mary, to worship Him with humility and honor. |
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